american idol season finale

It's been a crazy ride this season on 'American Idol' (Wed., 8PM ET on FOX), but it came down to two country singers who aren't even old enough to vote yet. Scotty McCreery slowly expanded his vocal range as we moved along, while Alaina nearly didn't make the finale at all thanks to a blown vocal chord.

They both gave it all they had, bringing us two new songs at the end of the performance night that we could both see as hits in country music radio. In fact, as far as their career potential goes, this result almost doesn't matter.

The night was so packed with special guests and performances from all the Top 13 Idols from Season 10 that by the time Ryan said to dim the lights, we couldn't believe it was already time to find out who'd won.

Poor Lauren Alaina. With an injured vocal chord, she was absent from much of the performances during the 'American Idol' (Wed., 8PM ET on FOX) finale. Probably she was saving her voice for her big duet with her own idol, Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood.

The pair tackled Underwood's hit 'Before He Cheats,' but even in this performance, Alaina had to give more of the song to Underwood than was probably originally intended. Still, she was given her moments to shine, and it proved to be a very solid performance.

We couldn't help but think, while watching this finale, that the results almost don't matter. Both Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery have huge careers just waiting for them in country music. Alaina, however, has a better shot at the same crossover success Underwood has found in pop music.

As expected, Laday Gaga kept it weird on the 'American Idol' (Wed., 8PM ET on FOX) season finale. She performed her new single, 'The Edge of Glory,' from atop a makeshift cliff, starting off with a bizarre headpiece that made her head look like it was the same shape as Stewie's from 'Family Guy.'

She stayed up there throughout the entire performance, though she still managed to strike some very shocking poses for a family show. Halfway through the performance, one of her dancers made his way up there with her, and it was none other than former 'So You Think You Can Dance' contestant Mark Kanemura.

He was always such a strange and unique performer on the show, we couldn't have picked a better place for his career to take him. Gaga and he got very intimate as the song came to a close, climaxing with a dramatic fall from the cliff.

Throughout his time on 'American Idol' (Wed., 8PM ET on FOX) this season, Casey Abrams was always memorable and always a little ... unique. With his quirky sense of humor and no-holds-barred attitude on stage, there was really only one performer that could match him in personality and stage presence.

A lot of people don't realize that Jack Black first came into the public eye as one half of musical duo Tenacious D. The pair tackled Queen's 'Fat Bottomed Girls,' and it was as silly and fun as you'd expect.

We don't know if Abrams has any acting ability, but if he can bring the same kind of charisma and charm he brought to the stage every week, we could see him making fun spot appearances in comedy films. The performance also made us wish we could get a new Tenacious D project before too long.

James Durbin didn't get to rock out with the resident rocker on the 'American Idol' (Wed., 8PM ET on FOX) finale, but he still got to take to the stage with a legendary band. It was a beautiful vocal harmony between Durbin and Judas Priest's Rob Halford as they tackled a medley of two of Priest's biggest hits.

As we know you were anticipating, there was plenty of fire and explosions to help make sure we knew this was a James Durbin performance. All in all, he looked completely comfortable with the band and it was a great preview of the type of career he might have.

In a package on the most shocking elimination of the season, Durbin equated his own elimination to that of Chris Daughtry -- both wound up in fourth place.